Want to know God?

First Baptist Church, Opp

Imagine you were given the task to swim from California to Hawaii. You had six months to train. What would you do? How would you train? The shortest distance between the two states is about 2,356 miles. Wow. Do you think you would make it alive?   

Well, odds are even the Michael Phelpses of the world would fail. There is too much difficulty in the task. Did you know that our lives without Christ are similar to swimming this 2,300-mile journey?  

With our own efforts, we’re helpless to be made right in God’s eyes. Scripture tells us, “There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God” (Rom. 3:11). All of us are sinners; we fall short of what is needed to be right with God (Rom. 3:23). The Bible gives us examples of our sin: “adultery, fornication, impurity, sensuality … strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions … I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:19–21). Our sin keeps us from knowing God and separates us from Him.  

How do we bridge the gap between God and us? Well, God made a way. It’s actually a gift. You can’t earn your way into God’s favor. Your deeds merit nothing with God. God, who is wise and perfect, can’t have sinners in His kingdom. So, He determined, before time began, to save us. He set His affections on us; He loved us even before we loved Him. Scripture says, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Eph. 1:4). 

Wow. God chose to save us and make us right with Him, even though we’re sinners. What a gracious and loving God. How does God give sinners the right to be in His kingdom? Romans 5:6 tells us, “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” God’s Son came to earth and died as a perfect sacrifice for sinners. His death wiped out our sins and made us clean before God. What a gift. To know this God, believe in Christ and you’ll enter His kingdom.